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What is Geography?

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On this page we are going to explore the physical and biological aspects of Mongolia's geography! Starting with the physical geography we will look at things like climate, land, water, and we will even look at some hazards that are present in Mongolia. There are two main climates in Mongolia, and they are desert and continental. The continental climate has very seasonal temperature ranges. When thinking about comparing the climate of Mongolia to a state in the United States, states like Wyoming and Montana are often thought of to be great indicators. The total land area in Mongolia is 1,553,556 sq. km. and the total water area is 10,560 sq. km. A great comparison for the total area of Mongolia would be to Alaska in the United States. Mongolia is completely landlocked so there are no coastlines. There are 4 main hazards that affect Mongolia and they are: drought, harsh winters, dust storms, and grassland/forest fires. The environment also faces some environment issues that include limited natural freshwater sources, desertification, and mining activities.

(CIA Factbook, 2011)










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Shifting gears from the physical aspects, we will now take a look at the biological aspects. The Mongolians have 5 species that they focus on most when they are raising animals. These five species are horses, goats, sheep, camels, and cows. There are some places in the north that raise large herds of reindeer. Wild animals consist of wolves, rabbits, marmots, takhi, and even the rare snow leopard. Mongolia is also known to be a great location for bird lovers to go and enjoy nature. Forests play a minor role in the geography of Mongolia, taking up about 15% of the landscape. Steppes and meadows cover the most of the landscape at 52% and the rest is covered by desert.
(e-Mongol, 1999 )

The Gobi Desert
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The Gobi Desert is one of the great deserts and it runs through Southern Mongolia and covers around 17% of the landscape.
References
Mongolia. (n.d.). CIA Factbook. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from http:www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mg.htmlgov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mg.html


Mongolian nature : plants & animals of Mongolia on e-Mongol.com. Discover the prehistoric past of Mongolia . (n.d.). La Mongolie avec e-Mongol. Retrieved December 7, 2011, from http://www.e-mongol.com/mongolia-environnement.htm